AK AK - Anchorage, WhtMale 439UMAK, 25-40, naked, fell from flagpole, Aug'89

[MagnoliaMountain]

Just wow...I was sure it's Gordon.

 

[rats]

Here's his NamUs: https://identifyus.org/en/cases/14060 Gordon is not yet listed as ruled out. Weirdly, he's listed as not recognizable bc of decomposition?

 

[carbuff]

I've come to the conclusion that that checkbox or whatever it is is meaningless.

 

[MagnoliaMountain]

Bumping for this young man, may he get his name back in 2017.

 

[kfeldhaus]

Bumping for this young man, may he get his name back in 2017.

My father went missing in 1986 after robbing a bank. (No joke). I was 2 at the time and have recently been active in locating him. He was declared deceased by Iowa in 2000. This man matches my dad's description- I just need to know the dental. He had a bridge for his top 2 teeth and possible a 3rd on either side. My uncle assumed he escaped to Alaska and became a deckhand. He was a drug user and alcoholic- I would not be surprised if he was high on something if it were him. Working with NamUs and have sent this in. Anyone here know hus dentals?

 

[MelmothTheLost]

Since they shipped teeth to Texas, I wonder if they did isotope testing at the same time. It's a shame they didn't send hair as well as all those tests together would indicate how long he'd been in Alaska before he died and where he'd grown up and lived. At least that would narrow things down and suggest where to look and where not to.

 

[carbuff]

My father went missing in 1986 after robbing a bank. (No joke). I was 2 at the time and have recently been active in locating him. He was declared deceased by Iowa in 2000. This man matches my dad's description- I just need to know the dental. He had a bridge for his top 2 teeth and possible a 3rd on either side. My uncle assumed he escaped to Alaska and became a deckhand. He was a drug user and alcoholic- I would not be surprised if he was high on something if it were him. Working with NamUs and have sent this in. Anyone here know hus dentals?

I'm sorry about your father and I hope you can find him soon.

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

 

[CountEveryMoment]

It could be the guy was delusional from sort of mental illness if it wasn't drugs or alcohol. Reading http://www.anchoragepress.com/news/...cle_af2602b1-c7fe-595d-8d8e-bd6a2359d0de.html there had to been something mentally wrong from his actions. He also seemed to be physically fit a witness said he shimmied up like a squirrel

I thought from reading the DoeNetwork page that maybe he did this at night, but according to the article it was in the afternoon around lunch time. It also seemed like he didn'y shimmy up the pole to just to scan the area. He seemed to have been having a convo with the eagle on top. And then he stretched his arms and fell backwards. He also landed head first so that might be why theres no frontal view for him.

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

This case is intriguing! Poor guy, he definitely didn't seem lucid in those circumstances.

This case reminds me of a few things, first it reminds me of the Harvey Danger song "Flagppole Sitta", and secondly it reminds me of Brian Duecker, a man who was once an unidentified person that jumped onto a plane taking flight and fell to his death after the plane reached 3000 ft into the air. Duecker had schizophrenia, and his case reminds me of this because of the lapse in judgement each had, and also the unexplained strength each had during the event. Climbing up a flagpole isn't as hard as clinging to a plane obviously, but still not achievable by all.

Flagpole sitting was surprisingly a fad during the 20's and was to test endurance.

I also agree his death being ruled as suicide as being irrelevant, because he clearly wasn't lucid or in his right mind when it was happening. The description of circumstances make it seem he fell off the flagpole instead of intentionally jumping; however, this article (the one posted in the post above) seems intentional but under the influence or mentally ill. I thought the hypothermia post seemed plausible. What temperatures are in that area overnight? And of course mental illness and withdrawing from meds could be a factor.

With the location being outside of McDonald's I'm sure there was quite a number of witnesses.

Could this also be a prank gone wrong? An awful dare to run naked through town and climb up the flag pole outside of McDonald's. If this is the case, I doubt the "darer's" would come forward in fear of arrest. Was anyone seen fleeing the scene after the fall? He is described as looking into the distance. Maybe he was looking for his friends in the crowd?

 

[watergirl62]

Rule-outs:

First Name Last Name Year of Birth State LKA

James Miller 1956 Iowa
Ralph Newcombe 1953 Washington

https://identifyus.org/en/cases/14060

 

[sonz82]

I'm confused by one detail, if an officer was on the scene when the man fell, why does his casefile say "decomposing unrecognizable remains?
Sorry if this is a silly question

 

[sonz82]

Josef Unterhuber. Travelled to the USA from Italy in 1988.
Http://www.doenetwork.org/cases-int/408dmita.html

 

[CountEveryMoment]

I'm confused by one detail, if an officer was on the scene when the man fell, why does his casefile say "decomposing unrecognizable remains?
Sorry if this is a silly question

I would say that it may have been one of the options for that area if you're talking about NamUs. It could had been a simple mistake also. But he was unrecognizable due to him landing on his face.

 

[MadMcGoo]

• NamUs UP14060
• The Doe Network 439UMAK

Reconstruction of the victim by David R. Wood

Date of Discovery: August 24, 1989
Location of Discovery: Anchorage, Anchorage County,
Cause of Death: Suicide
Estimated Age: Pre 40; 20-40 years old
Race/Sex: White/Male
Estimated Height: 6'1" (73 inches)
Estimated Weight: 180 lbs.
Hair Color: Brown, curly.
Eye Color: Blue or hazel
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Wore a full beard and mustache. No tattoos nor scars noted.
Clothing: None

Circumstances of Discovery
A police officer was stopped by a citizen who told him about a man running down the road with no clothes on. As the officer arrived in the area of the McDonald's restaurant on Mt. View Drive, he saw the man running through the parking lot, then climb up a center flagpole all the way to the top and looked around as if he was surveying the area. The officer called up to him but did not get a response. The man then let go and fell to the ground.

The police were never able to find his clothing or figure out from where he came. Fingerprints were sent out to all states, FBI and Canada with negative results. The autopsy showed no drugs in his system.

He may have come from another country and jumped ship near Anchorage.

Dentals: Available
Fingerprints: Available
DNA: Available

Investigating Agency(s)
Office of the State Medical Examiner
Stephen Hoage: 907-334-2200
Agency Case Number: 15-00835

Alaska State Troopers
Missing Persons Unit: 907-269-5058
Agency Case Number: 89-112359
NCIC Case Number: U392761578

3 Missing Person Exclusions
MP39107 James Miller 12/09/1986 Story IA (removed from NamUs)
MP1642 Jeffrey Baker 04/24/1989 Kitsap WA
MP13907 Ralph Newcombe 04/17/1989 King WA

 

[victoriarobinson642]

Russian?

 

[MadMcGoo]

I had forgotten about this case. I've read it before and it's a real mystery! I don't know about Russian, but I'm going to assume he wasn't local. I'm not sure what to think about this one really...

 

[sonz82]

Did anyone submit Joseph Unterhuber?

 

[sonz82]

There is a lot of missing men from alaska being added to namus lately so here's hoping this guy and other alaska does get names back soon

 

[ghostINshell]

I had forgotten about this case. I've read it before and it's a real mystery! I don't know about Russian, but I'm going to assume he wasn't local. I'm not sure what to think about this one really...

The only other neighboring country would have to be Canada. I wonder if he came from a border town between Canada and the US(Alaska).

Also found this which is related to migration in Alaska and the demographics. Sadly of course, these statistics are not from 1989, but maybe it will give a clearer picture. Most of the migrants are Filipino but 7% of migrants stem from Canada. Possibility???
Immigrants in Alaska

 

[ghostINshell]

Oh wait, just read his Doe Network and it says that the FBI checked fingerprints in all states and Canada with no results. But then again, after all these years, it doesnt hurt to check again.